On the day on which I received this discouraging intelligence, I requested a special meeting of the Committee, for the purpose of deliberating as to the best course to be pursued, when I received instructions to proceed to the Rock, and for that purpose to hire a steamer at Glasgow. I accordingly started that very evening for Skerryvore, with the intention at the same time of removing such of the men from Tyree as were not to be employed during the winter. I left Greenock in the steamer _Tobermory_, accompanied by Mr Macurich of the Lighthouse tender, at midnight of the 14th November, after some delay in repairing a leak in the boiler, which was discovered in time before starting, and reached Hynish at 11 on the forenoon of the 16th, having got a good passage round the Mull of Kintyre. The weather was, however, in every other respect most unfavourable for the purpose; and having merely touched, in passing Tyree, at the workyard at Hynish, to inquire whether any thing farther had transpired, and to take on board Mr Charles Barclay, who had visited the Rock after the loss of the barrack, we at once proceeded and reached Skerryvore about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. The sea ran very high, and there was not the most remote chance of landing, but, having got into the boat, I approached near enough to the Rock to enable me to survey the melancholy remains of our labours, which seemed to be in the same state in which they were described by Mr Hogben. The beam which lay back on the inclined ledge still kept its place, having been firmly lashed by Mr Charles Barclay to a ring which was near it when he landed on the 10th November; and I could see the remains of some of the stancheons and of the crabs which the sea had left. After waiting, in the hope of a change in the state of the sea, until it was nearly dark, we again turned towards Tyree, in all the gloom of a stormy night, and depressed by mingled disappointment and sad forebodings, occasioned by the fate of our intended asylum from the waves. Owing to the heavy sea, and a strong gale against us, we hung for a long time off Hynish Point, and did not reach the Bay till midnight. Next morning about 7, we came off Hynish, in order to take in the men who were to go home for the winter. The ground was deeply covered with snow, which made the embarkation of so many persons and so much baggage a tedious and uncomfortable operation; and when we sailed, we experienced all the inconveniences of a strong gale and a heavy sea, with the concomitant of a deck covered with passengers, all very sick and much dispirited. Many of the men, indeed, seemed to be as deeply concerned for the loss we had sustained as I myself was. To add to our difficulties, the vessel, under the care of a native pilot, had touched slightly on a rock off Hynish Point, and gave some indications of leaking. We, however, reached Oban in safety. [Illustration: No. 10.] ~Cause of the destruction of the barrack.~